Read for a peek into what AC Sutliff chooses to do on a day when her child is at daycare and there's literally nothing to do but write:
I watched videos about writing today! Rather than finish that pesky fight scene I mentioned yesterday, I decided to go down a rabbit hole. I went to youtube. Bad idea. Wasted too much precious writing time. But I left with something to think about, mostly for when I'm revising my writing, but also to keep in mind while I'm finishing up this novel. If I'm going to spend thirty minutes listening to writing videos, I might as well make use of this new knowledge by reflecting on it. Here is Alexa Donne's 22 amateur writing mistakes. With a little thought from me about each one.
Tense shifting. Been there. Done that. Of course, that was back when I was in middle school writing my lovely fanfiction for the Dragonriders of Pern series. Ah, Anne McCaffrey, how I love you. Moving on.
Info dumping. Does it count if your character literally has been living in the dark about everything and is very inquisitive and asks tons of questions? Alexa mentions info dumping from character dialogue as well as in exposition. I might have to cut this back on a future revision. My current series opens with my main character venturing out into the world from a magical prison in which she was raised, so she needs to learn a lot about her world. Perhaps I will need to ask my beta readers if they think it is excessive. Anyone interested in beta reading for me? 😇
Excessive dialog tags. Alexa didn't talk enough about what TO DO instead of using dialogue tags. Essentially, if you have to tag each line of dialogue with he said, she said, your characters are talking too much without any action. I usually include some sort of descriptor with each paragraph of dialogue, unless it's quick back and forth conversation, which only needs a dialogue tag every now and then, after you first introduce who is talking. I think I have mastered the art of dialogue tagging, which means only when necessary to make sure the reader knows who is talking.
Over the top telling dialogue tags. In other words, not just he said she said, but instead he shouted, she whispered, he smirked. Very amateurish. I admit, when I was first trying to cut out my dialogue tags, I would mistakenly think that changing that she said into she whispered would make it okay. It doesn't. Don't do that anymore!
Repetitive sentence structure. I realized when writing my very first novels that I had repetitive sentence structure because I wrote in first person and nearly every sentence in this one chapter I was revising started with I (verb). It was very boring. I like to think that I have overcome this very basic amateur move. I've written nearly seven books now, which means I have had plenty of practice in writing with variety.
Melodrama. I'm not sure if my first books had melodrama or if it was actual drama, but it was one or the other. Probably both at once.
Redundant writing. Alexa describes this as overly descriptive. You describe something and then use more words to repeat the description. I could see that being a problem, in my earlier works, but I wonder how I would evaluate my own writing now if I went back to read looking for this problem. Not sure!
Grammar/usage errors. I aced my high school and college grammar lessons, and then went on to teach grammar to middle schoolers. SO I'd like to think that I am not making grammar errors that would flag me as an amateur.
Filler scenes/excessive description. I HATE overly wordy descriptions! Even more than filler scenes and fluff. My original novels were not guilty of this and in fact might have suffered from not enough description.
Poor pacing. Rushed? Slow as molasses? I'd like to think I have found a balance, but that's something I will make sure to check for when I'm revising and when quizzing my beta readers. Again, anyone interested?
Clunky exposition via dialogue. Alexa describes the writer introducing a character just to have them talk about something important, so that the writer isn't 'info dumping' but this still counts as info dumping. Again, I ask, if the characters meeting is the main point of the scene, and their conversation is necessary for the characters to then go do what they're supposed to do, then is it really info dumping? Or is it just good writing?
Word Counts out of whack. I checked my first book in my current series and it is only slightly longer than she said a fantasy novel should be. So I think I get a pass on this one! If you're curious, she says a debut fantasy novel should be at most 120,000 words, and I am up there at 128,000. Very close to the average!
All A plot, no B plot. Do your books have any subplot? Do you even know what subplot is? My original work included a subplot with the characters left behind after the main characters move away to a new school. My current works involve the lessons my characters are learning while they are working towards reaching the main plot points. A lot of my B plot happens in the middle of the book, while the A plot takes place in the first act and the last act. Is this okay? I don't really know.
Flat characters. Well, I'd like to think I have created three dimensional characters who are anything but flat, but again, this is something that I think I need a beta reader or editor to tell me. I've read a book on breathing life into characters (I think that was actually the title of the book!). I also have a book on fleshing out those characters so they are more than just archetypes. The problem is that it's been years since I've read those books. I think a refresher is definitely needed.
Excessive capitalization. Alexa says this happens a lot in fantasy and science fiction. When writers will capitalize something to make it a proper noun, excessively. Every once in a while is fine, but capitalizing every occupation or spell name gets redundant.
Head hopping. I tried to get around this amateurish move by creating a book that switched viewpoints every chapter. The problem was I didn't realize at the time that my chapters were too short, and instead were more like scenes within a chapter, and even though I had a section break for each time I switched PoVs, I was still very close to head hopping. Luckily I have since completely moved away from this idea. Now, with my currently novels in progress I switch view points between three main characters every three chapters that I write. And they are long chapters. Think Rick Riordan's Olympian series. It works much better than switching PoV every little scene!
TELLING. This is one that I think everybody can think about while they are drafting or revising. Did I show enough with this action, or does it come off as telling? Do I have too much inner monologue, which is a form of telling (in which you basically tell the reader what your character is thinking). I was very guilty of this with my first project, but I have to consider this when revising to ensure that my writing doesn't come off as amateurish because of too much telling.
Poor story logic. Does your antagonist do something that makes absolutely no sense? Does your protagonist make choices that baffle your reader? Avoid poor story logic by grounding your character in your world and making them feel like real people.
Purple prose/overwriting. I HATE writers who take the time to describe every petal on the flower bush. What are the characters doing? That's what I write about. I probably could do with some added setting description when I revise my writing, but I certainly do not error on the side of too much purple prose.
Stiff, formal writing. I'm the opposite of this as well. It actually struck me that I don't even know how to write character dialogue that would sound like old English, what could pass for authentic epic fantasy dialogue. I need to think about how my characters talk when I reread. Does that sound right for that particular character? Then beyond that, what about the descriptions? I don't think I come off as very formal in that regard either. But it never hurts to make sure I'm finding that balance.
Too many characters. I'm guilty. Enough said. But I would like to think that I introduce them slowly enough that it doesn't get too overwhelming for the reader to keep everybody straight. At least I hope so.
Perfect, passive characters. This is the last tip. I create characters with many attributes, including plenty of flaws. My characters DO things. They don't simply sit around waiting for their lives to happen, or waiting for bad things to happen to them. Bad stuff happens after my characters make choices, as it should. This is what makes stories interesting.
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